Virgin Islands Democrats Let Epstein ‘Remain Unchecked,’ Received Money And Favors, JPMorgan Lawyers Allege | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's Note: This post appears here courtesy of the The Daily Wire. The author of this post is Ben Zeisloft.

    Attorneys for investment bank JPMorgan Chase accused Democratic officials in the U.S. Virgin Islands of engaging in "quid pro quo" relationships with late financier Jeffrey Epstein in an explosive Tuesday legal filing shared with The Daily Wire.

    Lawyers for the U.S. Virgin Islands filed a lawsuit against JPMorgan Chase late last year claiming that the financial institution, which worked with Epstein from 1998 to 2013, financially benefited from his underage sex trafficking schemes. The filing from JPMorgan Chase, which is opposed to an attempt from U.S. Virgin Islands attorneys to toss the company's defenses, alleged that the government of the territory was the entity which "most directly failed to protect public safety" and "most actively facilitated" the criminal activity.

    "Epstein could have lived anywhere in the world. He chose USVI," the document said. "Discovery obtained in this case reveals why. For two decades, Epstein maintained a quid pro quo relationship with USVI's highest ranking officials."

    Attorneys for the investment bank added that Epstein, who committed suicide in his jail cell in 2019, allegedly granted officials "money, advice, influence and favors" as they provided him with tax incentives, effectively "looking the other way when he walked through USVI airports accompanied by girls and young women."

    The court document accused Stacey Plaskett, the U.S. Virgin Islands non-voting delegate to Congress, of meeting with Epstein in his Manhattan townhouse less than a year before his arrest in 2019. Attorneys added that U.S. Virgin Islands First Lady Cecile De Jongh allegedly helped to foster a political culture in the Democratic Party of the Virgin Islands which "allowed Epstein to remain unchecked in exchange for his sponsorship and financial contributions."

    Lawyers additionally contended that Epstein "exerted influence" over the territory's attempts to update sex offender penalties in 2011. "Even as to the regulations USVI did enforce, it did so incompetently," the complaint added. "While the USVI did conduct site visits of Epstein's residence, those inspections were cursory at best."

    U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff previously tossed most charges against JPMorgan Chase and Deutsche Bank in the proposed class action lawsuit submitted by officials from the U.S. Virgin Islands and an unnamed Epstein victim. Deutsche Bank agreed last week to pay $75 million to settle a lawsuit accusing the company of failing to recognize the sex trafficking scheme.

    JPMorgan Chase continued their relationship with Epstein even after he pleaded guilty to two counts of soliciting prostitution from a teenage girl in 2008.

    The disgraced financier had a deeper relationship with employees of the investment bank than the company previously admitted, according to a recent report from The Wall Street Journal. Mary Erdoes, a senior lieutenant to veteran JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, visited Epstein's townhouse in 2011 and 2013, unnamed people familiar with the matter told the outlet, and corresponded with him about a charitable fund JPMorgan Chase was seeking to launch.

    John Duffy, who formerly led JPMorgan Chase's private bank, reportedly visited the townhouse in 2013 for a meeting. The company renewed an authorization one month later, permitting Epstein to borrow funds against his account despite multiple warnings from compliance officers. Justin Nelson, a banker who worked with Epstein at JPMorgan Chase, traveled to a New Mexico ranch owned by the pedophile in 2016 and participated in a handful of meetings at the Manhattan townhouse between 2014 and 2017.